Economic News Update

Business & Economic News Update: Tuesday, 10th October, 2017

 

Foreign Investors Identify Consumer Goods, Financial Services as Attractive Investment Sectors

The Nigerian economy is seemingly on the upturn and remains an attractive destination for foreign investors, seeking sustainable growth opportunities within the continent, according to findings by KPMG.

The consumer goods, financial services, telecommunication, media and technology, oil and gas sectors accounts for about 80 per cent of recent inbound investments into the country, the professional services firm stated in its report entitled: “Doing Deals in Nigeria – Key Insights from Deal Makers.”

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CBN forex supply hits $390m in one week

The Central Bank of Nigeria injected a total of $195m into the interbank foreign exchange market on Monday, with the naira remaining unchanged at 363 against the United States dollar. The CBN on Tuesday, last week, intervened in the interbank forex market with the sale of $195m.

Figures released by the bank on Monday showed that the sum of $100m was offered to the wholesale segment, while the Small and Medium Enterprises segment received $50m. The invisibles segment, comprising tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance, among others, received $45m.

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Equities’ investors seek review of penalties on listed firms

Shareholders in the nation’s capital market have stressed the need for regulatory authorities to review penalties imposed on quoted companies to attract new listing into the market.

The shareholders, who stated this during the Investor Clinic Programme to mark IOSCO World Investor Week 2017 organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Lagos at the weekend, argued that incessant penalties on companies are disincentive to market growth as it discourages firms from seeking quotation on the nation’s bourse. Specifically, the National Coordinator Emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), said that there was need for friendly policies and regulation by capital market regulators.

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Dangote shares success story with foreign investors

Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, has attributed his resolve to achieve self-sufficiency in commodity manufacturing through the strategy of backward integration as key to the success of his business.

Speaking during a public conversation at the Financial Times’ 4th Annual Africa Summit at Claridges, London, United Kingdom, moderated by the Editor-in-Chief of Times, Lionel Barber, Dangote said the strategy had worked and was working, and urged other African nations to likewise to reduce the continent’s import bill.

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NCC gives telcos 48 hours to deactivate unsued SIMs

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it has given telcos order to deactivate any subscriber identity module (SIM) card that was registered but unsused after 48 hours. Its Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, who dropped the hint yesterday  in Lagos, said ongoing SIM card registration by the telcos has reduced criminal activites perpetrated via the use of mobile phones.

Speaking on: Trackable Identity and Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria  at a function organised by public relations practitioners, he said trackable identity has become a sine qua non to ease of doing business. He said: “In spite of whatever challenges, the global trend is for all citizens to be registered, and for each citizen to be covered with a legal identity including birth registrations.

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N440bn bond issuance programme grossly inadequate – NMRC

The Managing Director, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, Prof. Charles Inyangete, has stated that the firm’s N440bn bond issuance programme to fund its refinancing activities is grossly inadequate when compared to an estimated N130tn required to solve the country’s housing deficit.

According to him, the situation requires the collaboration of stakeholders, who must take action that will help deepen the debt capital market because of its pivotal role as an effective financing enabler of infrastructure development.

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Flour Mills Renews Plans to Raise Capital, Targets N70bn

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc on Tuesday said it would commence process of raising additional capital through Rights Issue and Medium Term Notes(MTN). Following the high bank charges FMN was paying on borrowings, which drove costs of finance upwards for many years, shareholders of the company, in 2015 authorised the directors to raise up to N40billion of additional equity via a Rights Issue.

However, the directors in July 2016 put the right issue on hold and planned to later raise the funds in three tranches. According to the directors, given the economic headwinds, they decided to undertake the Rights Issue through a Shelf programme (a situation whereby securities are sold over a period of time) to enable the company raise the required funds in several transactions over three year period.

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Collect N40bn electricity debts from states, FG charges Discos

The Federal Government on Monday charged electricity distribution companies to engage state governments in order to collect the outstanding electricity debt amounting to about N40bn owed by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the various state and local governments.

It stated that on Wednesday, October 4, 2017, the Federal Executive Council approved the verified sum of N25.9bn as the Federal Government MDAs’ debts, and its payment by setting it off against the debts owed by the Discos to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company.

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Stakeholders call for concerted efforts on investor education

Stakeholders at the Nigerian capital market have called for increase in investor education and development of attractive and innovative products to enhance domestic participation in the Nigerian stock market. At an Investor Clinic organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Lagos as part of activities to mark the world investor week (WIW), stakeholders noted the need for continuous campaign to enlighten Nigerians on the benefits of savings and investments with a view to deepening the stock market with retail investors, especially the youth.

Director General, Securities and |Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, pointed out that the world investor week was a week set aside for educating investors on their rights. Gwarzo, who was represented by the executive director, market development of SEC, Mr. Eddy Rowlands said that the Commission would continue to embrace initiatives that would move the market forward.

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NIPOST reintroduces money order, begins electronic mail tracking

The Nigerian Postal Service on Monday announced a series of products and projects aimed at reviving the postal system and increasing the organisation’s patronage.

One of the new products announced by the Postmaster General of the Federation, Mr. Bisi Adegbuyi, at the celebration of the 2017 World Postal Day in Abuja was the money order. The money order is an old product of the postal system that enables customers to send money to their loved ones using the post offices scattered across the country.

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Coronation Asset Management lists 3 mutual funds

Coronation Asset Management, a subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, yesterday listed three mutual funds on the Nigerian Stock exchange (NSE), opening new opportunities for retail and institutional investors to invest in pools of diverse securities.

The three listed funds were Coronation Money Market Fund; Coronation Fixed Income Fund and Coronation Balanced Fund. The listing followed the success of the company’s initial public offerings for the mutual funds. Within its first year of commencement of business, Coronation Asset Management successfully pooled  479 subscribers with N1.65 billion through the Coronation Money Market fund, Coronation Fixed Income had 39 subscribers and yielded N315.205 million while Coronation Balanced Fund with 64 subscribers achieved N198.615 million.

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United Capital’s Q3 gross earnings rose by 10%

Pan-African investment banking group, United Capital Plc, has reported nine-month gross earnings of N6.2bn, representing a 10 per cent year-on-year growth. The group also reported a profit before tax of N3.9bn, which it said was a stable performance compared to the corresponding period in 2016.

The performance, according to the investment banking group, attests to its commitment to delivering bespoke investment banking solutions to clients across various segments of the Nigerian market and broader African continent.

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Nigeria’s economic challenges top agenda as 23rd NES opens today

Policy makers and experts from all walks of life will gather today in Abuja at the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) to proffer sector-specific solutions to the myriad of problems holding back the country’s development.

Organised by the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), the gathering is to engage in robust deliberations geared at enthroning an economic framework that encourages employment and productivity. According to the organisers, the nation’s job deficit and risk profile had become disturbing, hence the need to initiate a national response that adequately tackles them.

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50 million Nigerians have no electricity, says Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said 50 million people out of the nation’s 180 million population have no access to electricity. “Nigeria’s 180 million people, over 50 million have no power,” Osinbajo said in his keynote address at the Financial Times Africa Summit holding in London.

The Vice President told the gathering that as part of the present administration’s efforts to diversify power sources in order to improve access, it had started a programme of providing solar power in 20,000 homes in rural villages.

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